MISSED affordable housing targets for Mid Devon District Council have been blamed on a host of issues including unexpected delays and challenging conditions for the housebuilding sector.

Both private-sector housebuilders and the council failed to hit the number of new affordable or social-rented properties they hoped to create in the year to April.

The local authority’s cabinet heard that only 29 homes became part of the council’s own social housing stock against a target of 100 for the 2024/25 financial year.

That could create problems for the district’s residents, given the number of applicants on the Devon Home Choice website – which oversees council house availability – rose to 536 in April this year compared to 470 in the same month in 2024.

Plus, only 57 affordable homes were built by private-sector developers in the 2024/25 financial year, even though the council was predicting 94 would be constructed.

Simon Newcombe, the council’s head of housing and health, said the council’s delivery of housing had been hampered by delays caused by utility providers.

“These issues have taken sometimes five or six months to resolve and that’s why we have seen projects slow,” he said.

“I think there is a step-change in delivery this year, though.

“We lost several calendar quarters due to the pausing of the affordable housing programme amid the change in government, which meant projects were put on hold but we now have promises of funding for the current financial year.”

Richard Marsh, director of place and economy at the council, added that the completion of homes by private sector housebuilders had been “quite significantly hampered” mainly due to costs and the macroeconomic climate.

“Construction across the sector has been down and viability is proving quite challenging for the development sector, so output has reduced as a consequence,” he said.